Food Animal Reproduction and Medicine Service Residency Program

The UF Veterinary Hospitals (UFVH) and the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences (LACS) offer a 2 or 3 -year Residency program in the Food Animal Reproduction and Medicine Service (FARMS).

Program Description

The Food Animal Reproduction and Medicine Service (FARMS) conducts instruction, service and research activities with food animals, in Florida, primarily with dairy (80%) and beef (15%) cattle, but also with small ruminants and swine (5%). Virtually all these activities are on-farm. FARMS undertakes clinical activities at private farms and ranches at both local and distant locations, providing herd health care (preventive medicine) and emergency support. In addition, FARMS has responsibility for the health of all agricultural animals used for research at the University. Herd health and regulatory responsibilities extend to University dairy, beef, sheep and swine units. FARMS provides experience in “hands on” cases as well as investigations of special problems throughout the State of Florida. Residents are an integral and significant part of this program, progressing towards greater autonomy with both clients and students as their residency progresses.

First year residents are expected to attend all possible lectures in the Preventive or Production Medicine Course. All residents will assist in student laboratories on a rotational basis. Residents are expected and encouraged to attend the formal teaching activities conducted by FARMS faculty in didactic courses as well as attend relevant seminars in the CVM, Department of Animal Sciences and other venues both on and off campus. These activities include State and National meetings in relevant areas. Regular scheduled participatory activities include student and Faculty/Resident journal clubs (which alternate weekly with student-led discussions of research journal papers), case rounds and research project discussions (at regular intervals) within FARMS. Residents are expected to help supervise student club activities for the Food Animal Club and Theriogenology Club, often on Saturdays. In addition, residents are required to present seminars at the Resident seminar series.

The FARMS Residency is of 2 year’s duration, with provision for a combined Residency/MS program which takes 3 years. FARMS faculty, residents, and interns are involved with a number of research projects, acting both as principle investigators and co-investigators. Excellent collaboration exists with Animal Sciences as well as with other Departments in the CVM.

Objectives

The objectives of the program are to train graduate veterinarians for careers in preventive food animal medicine. The ultimate objective is certification of the resident by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Food Animal, Beef Cow/Calf or Dairy) and/or completion of a Master of Science degree. This is achieved through development of clinical skills and judgment through supervised field experience, didactic course work, teaching of professional veterinary students and participation in clinic rounds and seminars.

Goals of the Residency Program

The program is designed to provide a broad-based knowledge of the fundamentals of food animal reproduction and medicine including the following:

Herd health and management

Reproductive management

Nutrition management

Mastitis control

Infectious disease control

Neonate health and management

Foot health

Parasite control

Toxicosis prevention

Responsible drug use and residue prevention

Therapeutics

Necropsy/Pathology

Prerequisites

DVM degree or equivalent

One or more years of an approved internship or practice experience in food animal medicine is required.

Resident Selection Procedure

Residents are recruited from internship programs or private practices. FARMS faculty evaluate the application pool and rank the candidates. Selection will be based on:

The individual’s curriculum vitae including college transcripts

A statement of interests and goals

Reference letters from a minimum of three qualified individuals

Prior veterinary experience

Previous scholarly activities

Optional interview is encouraged

Program Contact

We encourage individual one-day interviews for residency candidates. These are scheduled with advanced notice. Interviews are scheduled during October through the first two weeks in January. Please contact Dr. Klibs Galvão, program coordinator, by e-mail (galvaok@ufl.edu) to request an interview. An electronic copy of the candidate’s CV and transcripts must be included.

Case Load

FARMS sees over ~22,000 cases per year; therefore, our residents serve as primary clinician on a large number of the cases seen by the FARMS service. We also encourage the residents to take the lead on employee training and troubleshooting disease outbreaks or management issues at the clients’ farms.
Cases seen by FARMS (Food Animal Reproduction & Medicine Service) Clinicians:

Responsibilities of Residents During Their Clinical Training

Responsibilities of FARMS residents consist of clinical assignments, which include patient care, participation in the clinical teaching of veterinary students, lectures to underclassmen, resident seminars, and some participation in the Theriogenology and palpation laboratories and continuing education courses. Responsibilities will include rotating night and weekend emergency duty.

Academic Requirements

All residents must conduct a research project, and prepare a manuscript in a format acceptable for publication in a refereed journal. Requirements of specialty boards will be completed in accordance with the board requirements. To fulfill the requirement for the ABVP (if planning on taking the board) the resident must keep a log of the preventive medicine procedures and analysis of a given production – management system covering a full year, and prepare two clinical case reports in a format acceptable for publication in a refereed or clinical journal.

Residency Certificate Requirements

Each resident will present one seminar per year in the CVM Resident Seminar Series. Topics must be selected three months in advance.

Each resident must have one major manuscript submitted to a refereed journal by the end of his or her program.

The Resident Program Coordinator maintains a folder for each resident. Residents are responsible for keeping their file current by noting fulfillment of required obligations, updating their curriculum vitae, and providing a copy of all manuscripts submitted for publication.

A certificate of residency will be awarded at the end of the residency only when stipulated requirements are satisfied and the resident’s committee members have signed the Residency Completion Form.

Rounds and Seminars

The FARMS Section meets weekly on Fridays for journal club, student case presentation, and seminar for students. The residents are required to participate in all activities by presenting research articles, participating in case discussions, and presenting seminars to students. Residents are required to present a seminar to fellow residents and faculty as part of the Resident Seminar Series every year.

Research

Residents will produce at least one peer reviewed publication during their program. Resident research projects must be reviewed by the resident’s (Master’s of Science or American Board of Veterinary Practitioners) advisor as well as appropriate FARMS faculty. Each resident will be expected to participate in an independent or joint prospective study and/or original research and the resident is encouraged to seek funding from both local and national sources. An annual Resident Research Award Competition through the Dean’s office funds many small resident projects (up to $2,000.00) with (mandatory) faculty assistance.

Resident Evaluation

The FARMS faculty will evaluate the progress of each resident biannually. This serves for guidance of the resident and to provide constructive criticism to aid their clinical, academic and professional development. Each resident will be requested to evaluate the residency program annually, and the FARMS faculty at the end of their program.

As part of both the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and the Academic Health Center, Veterinary Medicine is dedicated to advancing animal, human and environmental health through teaching, research, extension and patient care.

Need animal care? Visit the UF Small Animal and Large Animal Hospitals. From dogs, cats, birds and exotics to horses, cattle, llamas, pigs and many other large farm or food animals, our experienced veterinarian staff is ready to assist.